Hand grip for a golfer&#39;s putter



Nov. 5, 1963 s. c. BIGGS 3,109,653

HANDGRIP FOR A GOLFERS PUTTER Filed Jan. 23. 1961 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 FIG. 3

INVENTOR STANLEY C. B/GGS ATTORNEYS Nov. 5, 1963 s. c. Bless 3 09, 53

HANDGRIP FOR A GOLFERS PUTTER .Filed Jan. 23, 1961 2 Sheets$heet 2 1s 37 39 3a 8 41/ 42 36 4o INVENTOR STANLEY C. B/GGS ATTORNEYS United States Patent C l 3,ltl9,653 HAND GRII FOR A GOLFERS PUTTER Stanley flhampion Riggs, 9 Dunloe Road, Toronto '7, (inter-i0, Canada Filed .Ian. 23, E61, Ser. No. 84,432. 8 Claims. (Cl. 273-165) This invention relates to a hand-grip for a golfers putter.

In playing golf, putting is the phase of the game wherein the margin for error is at a minimum. Very slight deviations in the direction in which the ball leaves the face of the club are more undesirable than similar small deviations in other strokes during the course of the game.

Such slight deviations in the direction in which the ball leaves the face of the club may be occasioned by an improper grip upon the shaft of the club and by variations in that grip during the putting stroke.

The present invention provides a hand-grip for a golfers putter which embodies a relatively stiff resilient strip extending longitudinally of and spaced from the shaft of the club on the side of the shaft adjacent the golfer, in the area normally occupied by a conventional handle. As the putter grasps the hand-grip the strip will be deflected by the golfers fingers towards the shaft of the club by an amount dependent upon the tightness of the golfers grip. The strip is arranged relatively to the shaft in such a way that the lon itudinal centerline of the strip and the axis of the shaft of the club both lie in a plane which is parallel to the plane of the operative face of the club head. As a result, the shape of the hand-grip will be such as to enable the golfer to sense the attitude of the operative face of the putter. Further, the strip is so constructed as to be resilient only in both senses of a direction parallel to the operative face of the club head and to be relatively rigid in all other directions. Accordingly, as the club is gripped, the strip will flex in one sense of a direction parallel to the operative face of the club head and if, during the putting stroke, the golfers grip relaxes slightly, the resiliency of the strip will accommodate his relaxing grip While maintaining the same firmness between the golfers hand and the club itself, while, still further, permitting this relaxing of the grip to allow movement of the club only in a direction parallel to the face of the club which will not alter the relative attitude between the face of the club, the ball and the intended direction of travel of the ball.

According to a further feature of the invention, the strip is spaced from the shaft to a greater extent adjacent the upper end of the shaft than adjacent its lower end for the strip to diverge from the shaft in an upward direction.

Optionally, the strip, at its upper end, is connected to the shaft by adjustable connecting means to permit the extent of divergence to be adjusted to suit the personal preference of the user.

The strip may be in the form of an attachment which is to be adjustably secured to the shaft of a conventional putter, or it may be formed so as to be permanently and non-adjustably attached to the shaft of a putter.

The invention will be described by way of example with reference to the accompanying drawings in which like reference numerals denote like parts in the various views and in which:

FIGURE 1 is a perspective view of a hand-grip according to the invention;

FIGURE 2 is a section on the line 22 of FIGURE 1;

FIGURE 3 is a perspective view, partly cut away, showing a modification of the hand-grip of FIGURE 1;

FIGURE 4 is a section on the line 4-4 of FIGURE'3;

FIGURE 5 is a perspective view showing a modified embodiment of the invention;

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FIGURE 6 is a cross-section taken on the line 66 of FIGURE 5, and showing the transverse cross-section of the strip in that location;

FIGURE 7 is a cross-section corresponding to that of FIGURE 6, but showing the cross-section of an alternative form of strip;

FIGURE 8 is a fragmentary cross-section taken on the line 8-8 of FIGURE 5;

FIGURE 9 is a cross-section taken on the line 9--9 of FIGURE 5, and

FIGURE 10 is a perspective view of a finger-grip to be used optionally in conjunction with the invention.

Referring to FIGURES 1 and 2, a fragment of the shaft of the putter is shown at it). The hand-grip is formed of a tubular member 11, molded from a suitable thermoplastic material, such as nylon, polyvinyl chloride, polyethylene, which has molded integrally with it, a strip 12 which extends between the ends of the tubular member and which is spaced therefrom between its ends by a greater distance adjacent its upper end than adjacent its lower end. If necessary, a suitable reinforcing insert 12a may be molded into the strip 12 in order to increase its stiffness. The integral assembly comprised by the tubular member 11 and the strip 12 is positioned over the upper end of the shaft lid and is secured in place. In use, the attitude of the strip 12 enables the user to sense the attitude of the operative face of the putter head and the flexure of the strip 12 towards the shaft enables the user to feel the extent to which the hand-grip assembly is being gripped. Further, it will be seen that the strip 12 either with or without the reinforcing insert will be resilient only in a direction at right angles to its width or to its length and will be relatively rigid and inflexible in a direction at right angles to its thickness. As a result, when the golfer grasps the handgrip the compression exerted by his grip will cause the strip to flex inwardly towards the shaft of the club. If his grip relaxes, the strip will fiex outwardly away from the shaft of the club but it will be observed that both of these movements will be in a direction parallel to the operative face of the club head which is secured to the end of the shaft 1% (not shown) in such a way that its operative face lies parallel to a plane containing both the axis of the shaft 10 and the longitudinal centerline of the strip 12.

Referring now to FIGURES 3 and 4 which show a modification of the structure of FIGURES l and 2, the shaft is indicated at 26, the tubular member at 21, and the resilient strip at 22. Again the strip 22, optionally includes a reinforcing member in the cavity 22a formed in the strip 22.

The difference between the structure of FIGURES 3 and 4 and that of FIGURES 1 and 2 is that a flexible web 23 is provided, extending between each longitudinal edge of the strip 22 and the tubular member 21 to provide a closed space between the strip and the tubular member.

The flexible web 23 provides a smooth surface which will prevent the hand-grip from becoming caught or snagged upon other clubs which may normally be carried in the golf bag. Otherwise, in purpose and function, the embodiment of FIG. 3 is identical to that of FIG. 1.

To enable the assembly to be molded in one piece, preferably it is split at 24, and the juxtaposed edges are cemented to each other after molding, at which time the reinforcement 22:! can be inserted.

To accommodate such variables as the hand size of the user and the strength of the hands of the user, preferably a series of hand-grip assemblies having different amounts of taper of the strip 12 or 22 towards the tubular handgrip 11 or 21 would be provided for selection by the user and each one of the series would be made available in a range of stiffness of the strip 12 or 22. With the construction of FIGURES 3 and 4, the reinforcement in the cavity 22a could be inserted in the strip 22 after the appropriate selection had been made, and the juxtaposed edges then could be cemented to provide the selected assembly.

Referring now to FIGURE 5, a fragment of a shaft of a putter is shown at 36, the shaft extending upwardly through a conventional hand-grip 31. The hand-grip 31 is provided in a usual manner by a leather, rubber, fabric, gr other covering which is applied directly to the shaft 8. The attachment of the invention is indicated generally at 32.

The attachment includes a strip 33 of a relatively stiff resilient material which is connected at its upper end to the upper end of the shaft by means hereafter described in detail, and which at its lower end is secured to the shaft intermediate the ends of the shaft by means also hereinafter described in detail.

The strip 33 may be in the form of a solid casting or extrusion as shown at 33a in FIGURE 6, but it may also be formed from sheet metal in the manner shown at 336 in FIGURE 7. In both of the constructions of FIGURE -6 and FIGURE 7 the longitudinal edges of the strip are bowed towards the shaft in order to provide a more comfortable grip for the user than would be achieved if the strip were straight in a transverse crosssection.

At its upper end the strip 33 is secured to the shaft 30 by means permitting the upper end of the strip to be adjusted radially towards or away from the shaft in order 'to increase or decrease the spacing of the upper end of the strip from the shaft. The said means is indicated generally at 35, and is comprised by a first member 36 provided by an extension of the upper end of the strip 33 and by a second member 37, which is secured to the upper end of the shaft. The member 36 is of inverted U-shaped channel section, and embraces the second member 37. The member 37 is secured to the end of the shaft 30 by a screw or bolt 38, and is located against rotation about the axis of the shaft by a pin 39.

To enable the member 36 to be secured to the member 37 in a selected position of adjustment radially of the axis of the shaft 30, the member 36 is provided with an elongated slot 40 through which a screw 41 is passed. The edges of the slot at are chamfered and the head ofthe screw 41 is frusto-conical for the screw 41 to be countersunk in the slot 40 in a position in which it is flush with or slightly sunk in the upper surface of the member 36, as is clearly shown in FIGURE 8.

Conveniently, and as shown in FIGURE 8, a nut 41a is a secured to the underside of the member 37 for coaction with the screw 41. Also, to enhance the frictional purchase of that face of the member 36 which is in juxtaposed relationship with the mutually presented face of the member'37, preferably the juxtaposed faces of each of the members 36 and 37 are provided with interfitting transverse serrations 42.

In this way, after slackening off the screw 41, the member 36 can be moved radially towards or away from the axis of the'shaft 30 to space the upper end of the strip 33 from the handle 31 by a distance selected by the user. The screw 41 subsequently is tightened to draw the serrations 42 into engagement and to lock the members 36 and 37 in their selected position of adjustment.

As will be apparent, other convenient means may be provided for effecting the desired adjustment of the up per end of the strip 33 towards or away from the shaft 30, and, if desired, the means providing the adjustment may be dispensed with and the upper end of the strip 33 may be adjustably or non-adjustably connected in any convenient manner directly to the upper end of the shaft 30. In the latter case, the user would select a spacing of the strip 33 which he preferred, and would purchase an attachment providing that selected spacing.

At its lower end, the strip 33 merges into an integral C-clip indicated generally at 45 in FIGURES 5 and 9, the C-clip having a pair of arms 45a, 4512 which provide an aperture which is slightly less than the diameter of the portion of the shaft which the clip embraces. Conveniently, the gap 46 between the arms of the C-clip is slightly greater in width than the minimum diameter of the shaft, indicated at a in FIGURE 9, in order that the C-clip may be passed over the shaft at said portion of minimum diameter and then slid longitudinally of the shaft to the location shown, it being understood that a conventional shaft tapers from its upper end to its lower. end. If necessary, adjustment of the aperture of the C-clip can be accomplished by moving the C-clip to a portion of the shaft which is of smaller diameter and then forcing the arms 45a, 45b of the C-clip towards each other. Alternatively, the arms 45a, 4512 can be moved towards each other by lightly tapping them with a hammer.

If desired, the C-clip, after the hand-grip attachment has been secured to the shaft 30 in its desired position, may be wrapped over with a suitable adhesive tape.

The connecting means 35 and 45 should include "a minimum of projections in order that the adjacent golfing irons and the interior of the golfers bag shall not become scarred or abraded when the putter is dropped handle first into the golfers bag or removed therefrom.

The embodiment of FIGURE 5 includes, as do the embodiments of FIGURES l and 3, a resilient strip which may be deformed only in the direction parallel to the plane of the operative face of the club head for reasons set forth above.

Referring now to FIGURE 10, the drawing shows a finger-grip which may be used optionally, in conjunction with the hand-grip of FIGURE 1 or FIGURE 5. The finger-grip comprises a channel section member 48 of complementary internal contour to the transverse contour of the strip 12 or 33, the channel member 48 being provided with a pair of flanges 49 through which a screw 50 is passed. The channel-section carries any convenient form of finger-grip 51, formed, for example from rubber, plastic material, or the like.

To position the auxiliary finger grip 48 on the strip 12 t or 33, the screw 50 is removed and the arms 49 of the channel-section are temporarily sprung apart to enable them to be passed around the strip. The screw 50 is then reinserted and is used to draw the flanges 49 towards each other. Prior to the channel-section member 48 being locked by friction to the strip it is adjusted to a selected position longitudinally of the strip, and then is locked in that position by tightening down the screw Stl. In this way the user is enabled to adjust the auxiliary fingergrip to his personal requirements, such as the users height, and may readjust the position of the auxiliary finger-grip to accommodatea change in putting stance. Alternatively, the strip 12 or 33 may be provided with transverse ridges in a form convenient for the users fingers and extending for a distance along the strip sufficient to accommodate any likely change in point of grip relativethe strip which the user may desire to make."

It will be understood that the embodiments of the invention described above are to be taken by way of example only of the many forms which the hand-grip attachment of the invention may take, and that various pther modifications of structure are contemplated and encompassed within the scope of the appended claims.

What I claim as my invention is:

l. A hand-grip for a golfers putter, including a strip of a relatively stiff, self-supporting, resilient material, connecting means at one end of the strip for mounting said one end of the strip to the shaft of the putter adjacent the upper end of the shaft with said one end of the strip in spaced relationship to the shaft, connecting means at the other end of the strip for securing said other end of the strip to the shaft of the putter at a position intermediate the ends of the shaft, With said other end of the strip in spaced relationship to the shaft, the strip, intermediate its ends, having a configuration for it to extend longitudinally of the shaft in spaced relationship to the shaft of the putter, said spacing being sufiicient to accommodate flexure of the intermediate portion of the strip relative to the shaft in both senses of a direction parallel to the plane of the operative face of the putter head.

2. A hand-grip according to claim 1, in which the strip is spaced from the shaft by a greater distance adjacent its one end than adjacent its other end.

3. A hand-grip according to claim 1, in which the connecting means at one end of the strip is adjustable to permit the strip, adjacent said one end, to be spaced from the shaft by a selected distance.

4. A hand-grip for a golfers putter, comprising a strip of relatively stiff resilient material, connecting means at one end of the strip for securing said one end of the strip to the shaft of the putter adjacent the upper end of the shaft, said connecting means including a pair of members arranged in face to face juxtaposed relationship, one of the members being fast with said one end of the strip, and the other member being adapted to be attached to the upper end of the shaft with said juxtaposed faces extending laterally of the shaft, and locking means for securing said members together with said one member in a selected position of adjustment with respect to said other member, connecting means at the other end of the strip for securing said other end of the strip to the shaft of the putter at a position intermediate the ends of the shaft, the strip, intermediate its ends, having a configuration for it to extend longitudinally of the shaft in spaced relationship to the shaft of the putter, said spacing being suiiicient to accommodate fiexure of the intermediate portion of the strip relative to the shaft in both senses of the direction parallel to the plane of the operative face of the putter head.

5. A hand-grip for a golfers putter, comprising a strip of relatively stiff resilient material, connecting means at one end of the strip for securing said one end of the strip to the shaft of the putter adjacent the upper end of the shaft, said connecting means including a pair of members arranged to telescope one within the other, one of the members being fast with said one end of the strip,

and the other of the members being adapted to be attached to the upper end of the shaft with the telescoping portions of said members extending radially of the shaft, and locking means for securing the telescoping members in a selected position of adjustment relatively to each other, connecting means at the other end of the strip for securing said other end of the strip to the shaft of the putter at a position intermediate the ends of the shaft, the strip, intermediate its ends, extending longitudinally the shaft in spaced relationship to a conventional hand-grip of the putter, said spacing being suliicient to accommodate fiexure of the intermediate portion of the strip relative to the shaft in both senses of a direction parallel to the plane of the operative face of the putter head.

6. A hand-grip assembly for attachment to the shaft of a golfers put er, said hand-grip being a one-piece molding of a relatively stiff resilient material, said molding including a tubular portion to be positioned over the shaft and to be located against longitudinal or circumferential displacement relatively to the shaft, and a strip which at its ends is integral with and spaced from the tubular portion and which, intermediate its ends, extends longitudinally of the tubular portion in spaced relationship thereto, the spacing of the strip from the tubular portion being stillicient to accommodate ilexure of the strip intermediate its ends relative to the tubular portion in both senses of a direction parallel to the plane of an operative face of a putter head.

7. A hand-grip assembly according to claim 6, in which the strip is spaced from the tubular portion by a greater distance adjacent one of its ends than adjacent the other of its ends.

'8. A hand-grip assembly according to claim 6, including a flexible web extending between each longitudinal edge of the strip and the tubular portion to provide an enclosed space between said strip and the tubular portion.

References (Iited in the tile of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 612,057 Richter Oct. 11, 1898 834,711 Clark et a1 Oct. 30, 1996 (2,789,464 Ashley Feb. 5, 1957 

1. A HAND-GRIP FOR A GOLFER''S PUTTER, INCLUDING A STRIP OF A RELATIVELY STIFF, SELF-SUPPORTING, RESILIENT MATERIAL, CONNECTING MEANS AT ONE END OF THE STRIP FOR MOUNTING SAID ONE END OF THE STRIP TO THE SHAFT OF THE PUTTER ADJACENT THE UPPER END OF THE SHAFT WITH SAID ONE END OF THE STRIP IN SPACED RELATIONSHIP TO THE SHAFT, CONNECTING MEANS AT THE OTHER END OF THE STRIP FOR SECURING SAID OTHER END OF THE STRIP TO THE SHAFT OF THE PUTTER AT A POSITION INTERMEDIATE THE ENDS OF THE SHAFT, WITH SAID OTHER END OF THE STRIP IN SPACED RELATIONSHIP TO THE SHAFT, THE STRIP, INTERMEDIATE ITS ENDS, HAVING A CONFIGURATION FOR IT TO EXTEND LONGITUDINALLY OF THE SHAFT IN SPACED RELATIONSHIP TO THE SHAFT OF THE PUTTER, SAID SPACING BEING SUFFICIENT TO ACCOMMODATE FLEXURE OF THE INTERMEDIATE PORTION OF THE STRIP RELATIVE TO THE SHAFT IN BOTH SENSES OF A DIRECTION PARALLEL TO THE PLANE OF THE OPERATIVE FACE OF THE PUTTER HEAD. 